America at 250: The Unfinished Project — Did the American Revolution Really Achieve Its Ideals?

Was the complex and ultimately incomplete promise of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness ever fully realized in the United States? What cultural, legal, and economic factors have held back progress? Or were those ideals always contested and partial—a struggle that continues in the spirit of the nation’s founding?

 A panel discussion across disciplines and viewpoints exploring the nation’s values on its 250th anniversary. Lunch served.

Featuring Valerie Jarrett, CEO of the Obama Foundation; U.S. Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA); and Alison LaCroix, Robert Newton Reid Professor of Law at the University of Chicago. Moderated by Sarah Isgur, editor of SCOTUSblog and legal analyst for ABC News.

Co-sponsored by International House.

If you have any questions about accessibility, please contact iopevents@uchicago.edu.

Friday, May 1, 2026
International House
12:30 - 1:45 pm